Sidewalk Ghosts: Recent Episodes
Richard Radstone
Welcome to Sidewalk Ghosts by Richard Radstone – Openhearted interviews of strangers from around the globe that open a window into the hearts and histories of both the known and unknown. Short, thoughtful, and entertaining stories for appreciating the bonds to be found within our difference, and for knowing just how much your individual influence has upon this world we share.
From feeling invisible to facing her darkness with courage and honesty, today’s Stranger now Friend, musician, mother, and humorist Emily shares a journey that inspires and invites all of us toward gentler, more hopeful tomorrows.
Transcript
Emily
If you watch Scrooged, which is weird because it’s kind of a doinkey, weird, kind of grotesque movie, but we all have the duty to have that redemption arc. We don’t have time to be hating anything. Don’t have time to be writing off the boomers, or the Gen Zs, or the you know, the kids screaming in Target. We all got to learn and build together.
It’s the same world. We’re on one planet together. Everyone’s just got to get to work. We stopped doing that? I feel like we’re all avoiding that redemption arc and wasting time. But, you know, let’s start loving ourselves a little bit better.
Intro
We all carry unique histories and unseen experiences that, if embraced, can bridge divides and spark connection.
Welcome to Sidewalk Ghosts with Richard Redstone, short, openhearted stories that reveal the wisdom and vulnerability of both familiar faces and unexpected voices. Stories that ask us to listen a little closer and look beyond the surface of what we first see and feel. To simply pause for a moment and confirm just how much our influence has upon this world we share.
Emily
Well, I was like, hospitalized for self-abuse. So this is something I had to learn really hard, and it’s, just fake it. And I kind of had to realize, like, my hating myself is hurting other people, so I have to stop it. And just, like, white knuckle it. And then pretty soon, you will have some confidence, you will have some self-love.
You’re going to be using all of your energy to do that hard, a holy task that you’ll realize, why would I put anybody else through this? And I think that’s what kind of turned for me when I was really, really hard on myself. I was really hard on people too. It’s like everyone’s so judgmental. Everyone’s so, you know, morally reprehensible, everyone’s this, oh, the world is so horrible, blah, blah, blah.
When I started actively trying to love myself, the world seemed like a much better place. So I think that’s really, you know, from my perspective, that’s the ticket is you just got to, you got to be nicer to yourself. These people that go on about how horrible the world is, blah, blah, blah, I would take a second with that person and say, how horrible do you think you are?
You’re not horrible, and you’re here. So the world’s a good place.
Richard
There’s a point where self-help stops being private, spills into how we look at the world and everyone around us. And thanks to the courage of today’s stranger-now-friend Emily, who, as she talks about white knuckling through the pain she’s carried, we are beckoned to look at the hardships we may be facing. And, as we do, to allow ourselves a greater amount of kindness, release ourselves from the pressures of the world, and see gateways for better healing when it is needed.
Emily
I was never a drug user, but in the hospital, you just kind of go to AA, which I was really grateful for because when you go to AA, they’re not really like pulling down charts of the human brain and showing like the effects of narcotics or anything. They’re just talking about, life is hard. And why are you afraid to deal with that? Like, life is hard, and so stop numbing yourself. And so those are really helpful to go to because I wasn’t drinking or anything. I was numbing myself in other ways. And it’s really scary to choose to start living your life.
Richard
Life is hard, Emily says, a statement she doesn’t dress up, nor apologize for saying out loud. But rather, shows vulnerability as she talks about numbing herself and of her decision to start living her life, even though she was struggling to find her way.
Emily
I was like a music school dropout, and because, just, all this crazy stuff was happening in school, and like, dangerous stuff. And then I got sick, and I just dropped out, and so was my mental health. This stuff was kind of starting to percolate. My depression. And so I dropped out. I went home and, I like, stopped. I stopped doing any music because I was just like, I don’t deserve to play music because I dropped out of school.
I’m not going to be one of those idiots that drops out of music school and then still tries to be a musician. Then I was also, like, not giving myself the one thing that I’ve always had. I’ve been playing piano since I was a baby. That’s who I am. And so I was cutting myself off, thinking I was being really wise and mature by choosing to not waste my time playing music anymore.
Richard
Depression loves to manipulate our thinking, tells us that by starving our own souls or denying what we love, we’re being responsible, mature, making the right choice. Yet for Emily, music was not just her talent; it was her anchor. And in the fog of self-abuse, she cut herself off from the very thing that held her together. And as we take in her story, might we be pointed toward a rather difficult question, that being, what have we taken from ourselves in the name of being realistic or grown up, when in truth it is that the very thing that kept our souls alive is what we gave up, even the essence of the very human connection that we crave. Emily gives us a pathway.
Emily
You know, there’s practice with everything you do. There’s practice, and with your relationships, there’s going to be practice too. It’s a, I’m just really bad at making friends. You know, last time I tried to be friends with someone, it was so cringey. And I went home, and I just replayed everything I said in my brain. You know? Okay, it just sounds like you need some more practice. You need to practice being vulnerable. You need to practice, you know, realizing that you’re not as cringy as you think you are. You need to practice. Making plans with people. You need to practice talking to kids. People say, like, I don’t know how to talk to kids. Okay, then go practice. Go practice.
Richard
Emily mentions relationships of feeling awkward and facing her cringy moments, of being caught in circles of self-doubt. But in this, she extends an olive branch to us all, a release to more fully love our imperfections as we find peace in being who we are, as we are. A way of nurturing ourselves as we grow, and yes, even fail. That branch: The courage to simply practice.
Emily
You just have to start liking yourself right now. When you’re stuck in that cycle, you think, well, when I look like this, or when I act like this, or when my life looks like this, then I’ll stop being so harsh on myself. It’s like, now, just stop it, and you know, it’s just, like, stuck in every way. I was like, Oh my gosh. And I like, was so depressed and couldn’t even leave my house. And I had a job, and they were very nice to keep me there because I came sometimes. I kept thinking, like, once I get my, you know, once I get my act together, then it’ll be easier to be nicer to myself. Like, right now, I have to be hard on myself because I got to get better.
That’s actually the opposite. And you’ve got to love yourself through it. Then you won’t be afraid of hard work… getting better. Hating yourself is like a control save on where you are right now. So if you want to get better, you better start loving yourself so you can change. It’s kind of, it feels counterintuitive.
Richard
How many of us set conditions on our own worth, compel ourselves to believe: once I lose that weight, get that job, be recognized, find that perfect relationship, or the host of forecasts we put on ourselves, then I’ll matter.
Emily calls it self-hate as she redirects us toward realizing our own value to again, love ourselves just as we are, even when we are in the middle of what she calls, cringy moments. So I have to ask. Emily, when all feels lost, when you’re practicing as hard as you can and you still feel alone, how do you not be afraid? She bravely opens up.
Emily
I would like, pray to not wake up, right? You’re just like I’m wandering through life. But then that moment of feeling those angels around you, it was like, did it feel like a call? Like, you know, I do care about you. I’m here. So get up.
I mean, when I was hospitalized, it was just like, get up, somebody needs you. You have some worth. I would just pray to not wake up because I just was, like, you know, my husband deserves me to be gone. My family deserves me to be gone. Like. And I was just trying to make myself invisible. And I didn’t realize that was, like, suicidal. But then, like, praying you don’t wake up, that’s pretty suicidal.
You know,as I got better, and nothing changed, it wasn’t like I got a facelift or made $1 million or anything. It was just, I decided to start liking myself. Then I started to start liking the world, and seeing the world was a good place. And everyone around me is good and not evil. And then it’s just, like, I love life. I love everybody’s life, I love everybody I meet.
Richard
In listening to Emily, we are reminded that healing lives in the moments when we view ourselves with kindness, see ourselves as needed, and what we have to offer more. More profoundly, valuable as we are. That in every self-affirming step that we choose to take, we are expanding both the best of who we are right now and walking towards the fullness of who we are becoming. She takes it one step further.
Emily
The answer is a million good things in small amounts. It’s like anything that is, like, good, do it. If it, if you know, like, you know, you don’t have to burden yourself with all these metrics and blah blah, blah. Just if you’re in the pit of despair, just take tiny little baby steps. If you, if it’s, probably a good thing to text your friend that you love them, to send a text, and that’s enough for today. If it’s a good thing to drink a glass of water, then go do that. You know, maybe you have a million pressing things to do. Like me, at this time, it was like, you need a job and you need to make things better with your family, and you have these really big pressing issues. But it was like, all I can do today is go for a walk, and that was it. And that was enough. And that was, like, that was a lot. That was really important. It was baby steps. It was just tiny, tiny things. And my sweet husband was just so supportive of every little baby step. And I remember, like, I got out of the hospital and it was right around Christmas. So I got out of the hospital and I think it was, like, December 21st or something. And so it was, like, okay, now go have Christmas.
And I remember, like, having a really bad panic attack. And I was really pissed about it because I was, like, I thought I was over this horrible thing. That happens because I went to the hospital. I did all that work, and I was feeling so much better, like, why did I essentially, like, relapse? And it was just, like, it just takes time. That’s what my husband was telling me. It just takes time. Look how much you’ve grown. And you know, now you know what a panic attack is. Because I was having them all the time for years, and I didn’t know what it was. It’s just baby steps and it will get better. It will get better. It’ll get better really quick. And the time is going to pass anyway. This next year, 2026, is going to happen, so you might as well get a little bit better this year. Let’s do it. Let’s get better. I’m going to get better, Richard. It’s going to get better. You can get better too. Let’s do it.
The post “Baby Steps” — Sidewalk Ghosts, Season 3, Episode 4 first appeared on Sidewalk Ghosts by Richard Radstone.
Host of Ward Radio, Cardon Ellis shares more than a sense of humor and a researching mind, but rather, a set of ideas that can touch the hearts of us all.
Cardon
A willingness and a propensity to go out of your way to better the lives of others, without expecting something in return. To me, that’s love.
Cardon
Human society. I’m relatively hopeful for North American society. I think we’re coming out of a 30 year slump. I think the transition from the analog to the digital era was a rough one. The world coming to grips with what the internet did was very difficult. And there was for a long time, some definite winners and some definite losers.
But we’ve been humbled as of late. So I think we’re turning back to God, turning back to family, turning back to basics. And the basics are good. So I’m hopeful for North American society as a Californian, woke is broke, which I believe is an improvement upon all of our previous cultural exports. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were some of the biggest prophets of the 20th century, or the 21st century, when they wrote the song Californication.
They were very clairvoyant, and now I think we’re going back to culturally exporting unifying things instead of divisive things.
Richard
Cardon leans on a word I asked many to define… love. Not the shallow kind that depends on approval or return, but the deeper kind that asks for nothing back. The kind that is long suffering and patient. A view not at himself, but rather a forward looking reflection that asks us all to pause. To think, for just a moment, as to what could be occurring in the life of another. To look past what he labels “Divisive Things…” and as we do, to turn toward the “Unifying Things.” Yet as he speaks, you can sense a man who has walked into the winds of pain and the light of miracles… someone who has learned to hold to purpose… even when trials fall upon him. He shares a vulnerability…
Cardon
I got leukemia. I take a daily chemo pill every day, and it kind of turns you into a little bit of a pothead. It affects your short term memory, bro. Anybody that’s gone through chemotherapy knows chemo brain or cognition, as they call it.
But yeah, you think I talk a lot. Now, you should have seen me before. Chemotherapy, bro. So when did you find out you had leukemia? February 2nd, 2019. My daughter was diagnosed with her cancer February 2nd, 2017. How did that affect you emotionally? Spiritually? You know, what’s kind of strange is the very first thing I said when I was diagnosed, the doctor was a really good friend of mine, guy that I go to church with and played basketball with.
Really great guy. I had what I thought was a hernia in my stomach poking through my ribs, but it didn’t hurt and no doctor could explain what it was and I didn’t feel right with them. Just say, dude, you’re fine. So I went to him and he looked at me and said, yeah, this is weird. Doesn’t seem right.
Scanned me up. Think it was called an MRI or a Cat scan. I can’t remember what he did, but he came back a couple hours later and he was kind of teary eyed and he said, dude, I’ve tried to rule everything out, but you have all the symptoms of a body that’s been fighting leukemia for a really long time.
And it was actually my spleen, and my liver had gone so large from fighting the bad blood cells that it was starting to poke through my ribs, and it was taking up. My entire abdominal cavity was crazy. The X-ray was nuts. The first thing I said when I heard the news is I lean back and I was like, oh, that explains why I’ve been so tired because I have three jobs.
This is L.A., it’s expensive. I got two kids. I got a wife just to make ends meet. Everybody’s working 60 to 80 hours here. It’s just par for the course. And who with? Children in two jobs. Three jobs isn’t exhausted all the time, right? So I had thought that my willpower getting through me through the day was just normal.
I didn’t realize. Whoa. Okay. There was something wrong with me. How did it affect me? It sucks finding out you have cancer and there’s all kinds of emotions that come with that. But also, I lived in a cancer wing of, Children’s Hospital for a year before that, and I didn’t even dare complain after seeing what the children and children’s Hospital of Los Angeles went through.
I mean, CML leukemia is nothing compared to what some of these cats were doing. So I kind of don’t know how to ask how did it affect me? Because I almost didn’t let it, because I almost felt like I couldn’t. I was not going through anything compared to some of these super brave kids that I saw going through what they went through.
And simultaneously, there were some really good treatments that have come out in the past ten years. I mean, I take an oral chemotherapy therapy pill now once a day you’re looking at me, I still have my hair. You know, I mean, ten years ago I’d be on generalized chemotherapy and it’d be a coin toss whether or not I was still alive.
But now they can really hone in on some of these treatments. And sure, you know, water, attention. A weight gain is a side effect of my medication. So it sucks looking at yourself in the mirror, 40 pounds heavier after 5 or 6 years, and you have to be more disciplined to work out. You know, it sucks being a radio host whose recall has been affected by your chemotherapy.
I don’t remember names dates as well, but I mean, I look at it as a small price to pay to be able to function, frankly, in a very normal way. I feel insanely blessed. So when people say, like, how’s that affected you? There’s kind of a negative connotation to that term affected you that I almost feel like I’m not good enough of a person to cash in on, you know? So anyway, that’s how it affected me.
Richard
Cardon talks about what humility really means. A thought, that for him, is not an abstract idea. His story, a blend of courage and compassion… His life… that… from facing disease to living a parent’s worst nightmare, is a narrative that he shares with a lightness, grace and humor. A presence that shows us something sacred… that gratitude isn’t found by escaping hardship, but by allowing it to shape how we value ourselves, approach our challenges, see others, and do more than simply record the stories we are weaving… but to embrace them as a way of uplifting the world we are now living in and strengthening future generations. He elaborates…
Cardon
The grandson always wants to remember what the father wants to forget. Perfect example. Is this my biological father? After he divorced, my mother remarried a beautiful Cuban model named Vivian from Love Honor. Her father was a political prisoner of Fidel Castro, and he was sentenced to death by the regime. Imprisoned for eight, nine, ten years. I don’t know all the details because it’s so hard to get them out of her.
He came to this country with nothing on his back, and I would die to know more of my grandfather’s story. Cuban, now Cuban side of my family’s story. But she doesn’t want to talk about it. And people that lived under Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, I could see why no one would ever want to access that part of their brain that their soul had blocked out as a coping mechanism.
But also, the world needs to know these stories, so we hopefully don’t repeat them, especially if we can learn about them. And the grandson always wants to remember what the father wants to forget. So for anybody that is having trouble accessing that, I would say I’m a duty driven person. So oftentimes I consider things morally through the lens of duty and responsibility and so on and so forth.
So I would think, at least if I were trying to overcome this, that I have a duty to tell this story and preserve this story. But dutiful arguments pale in comparison to aversion to trauma in the mind of somebody that went through it. But yeah, I think that’s the angle is, you’re not doing it for you. You’re not doing it for kicks or giggles.
You’re not doing it to aggrandize the person. You’re doing it in order to help preserve the beautiful stories of people that I’m sure were very brave in the face of darkness. And that’s how you pay homage to them, and that’s how you keep their memory alive. And the best chance you have of preventing this in the future is by keeping the story alive.
Richard
“The grandson always wants to remember what the father wants to forget.” Cardon quotes. A sentiment, that if closely examined, reveals a power that can release the weight of generations, subdue the pain we inherit, the silence we protect, and give us the courage to speak what others could not. A grounding premise that confirms our family bibles and our personal histories as more than memories, our traumas and triumphs greater than hurt and joy, and more profoundly as bridges for healing and for growing… An idea that, at first glance, might seem overly optimistic… or even too altruistic for the times we are facing… the judgements we are navigating… the world our youth is walking toward… Cardon expands…
Cardon
One of the few things that was good that came out of the No Child Left Behind act was actually some studies about like emotional resilience in kids at different age groups and so on and so forth. And, Jonah Barnes, the author of Turning Little Hearts, does a much better job of describing this phenomenon than I do. But in a nutshell, they did a bunch of studies during the Bush two era studying what kids thrived and why.
And one of the conclusions they came across was that the kids that knew their family history were just advantaged in every single way across the board. By all measurable statistics. Their emotional resilience was higher, their physical health was higher, their ability to cope with stress was higher, and it made sense. The kids that understood I’m a proud Italian.
I am, bond, Tracy or whatever, and my great great grandfather came through Ellis Island, having survived, I don’t know, starvation in the 1890s due to a conflict with Prussia in the 1870s. And if he overcame that, I can overcome this right, that that knowledge of their ancestry and the strength of those that came before them in past times empower them in present times.
Then 911 happens. And the people that had done the initial studies pre 911 said, Holy crap, twin towers just came down, 3000 people died and there was a lot of kids that were originally participants of the first study, lost their parents during 9/11. So they went back and they redid like a follow up with a lot of these kids.
And of all the children that lost family members, the ones that were able to recover the best and the fastest were those same kids that knew their family history. So that tells us that really the most important thing in life that we can do is, is understand who we are and where we come from and communicate that story and the highlight reel thereof to future generations.
That’s the biggest gift you could give them.
Richard
Cardon speaks of family, of lineage, and of legacy. H is words, a reminder to never forget that where we come from is much greater than nostalgia… it’s navigation. That by embracing the best and worst of our ancestral heritage can be found a passageway to resilience, a facilitator for change, and a doorway to internal peace. A reason to exist that offers a roadway toward embracing our identities, fortifying our spirits when life tests our limits, and a way to open our eyes to the world as we explore ourselves.
Cardon
I just went on the go and do Travel Gospel on the Nile tour. And they do a really good job and a cool job of getting super knowledgeable professor types to guide these tours down Egypt and show you the parallels of how, like the oldest temples in the world, mirror the doctrines of the newest temples in the world and ask all these deep questions.
But as part of Egyptian law, you can’t do a tour unless there’s an actual Egyptian approved tour guide that has continuing education and a degree in history and so on and so forth. And I became friends with her and my security staff. That was with her, because it’s also if you have a bus with X amount of tourists on it, you actually have to have an armed guard, dudes walking around with a straight up, fully automatic machine gun underneath you go.
It’s totally awesome that a security team would like 3 or 4 guys, and I’m friends with them all on Facebook now, and after spending ten days in Egypt with them, we came became really good friends. I was doing some, wasn’t just a tourist there, I was actually doing video content for them and my online behave here is tempered in a good way by the fact that I know international friends that I care for deeply are watching what I post, and it makes me think twice and not second guess myself.
Not in a crippling way, but it expands my horizons of who I talk with and who is going to watch my stuff. Which makes me consider how am I representing myself, my country, my culture, my church? And it’s nothing but positive. The wider and more diverse our friend pool is across more borders, countries and cultures, the more we have to boil down our interactions with the world into their most basic and human centric and positive and unifying, messages than the divisive ones.
I think that as humans, anything that reminds us of our mutual humanity before we remind ourselves of what separates us, breeds good behavior. Yeah, at least from my perspective, that’s the good that I see.
Richard
Cardon calls it our “Our mutual humanity…” A reminder to look beyond our borders and inventory our fears… A call to unity that, if nurtured through mindfulness, compassion, and respect, can enable us to hold true to our own virtues as we allow others to feel safe in theirs. And as we serve, share, and stand our ground with caring hearts and actions… we become contributors to the story that we are all creating…
Cardon speaks of his faith and as he does, he leaves us his why…
Cardon / Some RR
I think the most beautiful aspect of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, aka mormons. As small and misunderstood as that faith is in comparison to other, larger, other worldwide faiths. From day one, you are taught I am a child of God and what that does to counter the negative influences that the outside world has on us is so profound in its simplicity.
The world wants to convince you that you are the value of your bank account. You are the value of your social status. You are the value of the power that you wield over others. You are the value of your physical strength, of your physical attractiveness at all. Whatever. When you can replace that rat race of power or money or status with the quiet peacefulness of I am a child of God, I’ve already made it.
I’m already there. I am the literal descendant, the anthropomorphic child of an actual and real God. I see that as being the most potentially stabilizing and peace and happiness giving thing that could be taught if the world was listening and I actually thought they would ingest it. That’s what I would teach that end the Ninja Turtles. I don’t think there was a better TV show than Ninja Turtles, so if the world was listening, I teach the Book of Mormon and Ninja Turtles.
It’s nice, you know, nice. But yeah, I’d say Ninja Turtle for Christ. No, not Ninja for Christ. Ninja turtle, Ninja turtle. It’s a very specific subset of ninja. It is green and white at the same time. Yeah. Dude.
The post I am a child of God – Sidewalk Ghosts, Season 3, Episode 3 first appeared on Sidewalk Ghosts by Richard Radstone.
As she faces her ashes and her light, today’s stranger now friend, Melanie, reminds us to love ourselves more fully, nurture the world around us, and embrace the light we carry within.The post Crystal Ball – Sidewalk Ghosts, Season 3, Episode 2 first appeared on Sidewalk Ghosts by Richard Radstone.
A self-described “bunny spirit” unravels her old wounds with gentle resilience, finding grace in the mess and in learning to love herself through it all.
The post “Unwind” — Sidewalk Ghosts, Season 3, Episode 1 first appeared on Sidewalk Ghosts by Richard Radstone.
With a 6-percent chance of survival, todays stranger-now-friend, Morgan, helps us look past Cancer and teaches us to better see the world around us.
Celebrity designer Danielle Judd shares how a life-threatening illness and a promise to God gave her another chance. Even an opportunity to better the world.
A creative genius and humorist turns the glass slipper upside down, and as she does, she helps us to better see each other…
As she tributes the brutal loss of a high school friend and of difficult childhood years, today’s Stranger-now-Friend Tracy, teaches us how the pain of past can become joy and purpose.
As she talks of the loss of her son to suicide, Chris opens her heart to others living the same pain, and the influence we each have on those around us.
He’s lived prison, addiction, and pain. But as we listen to his emergence from a dark and troubled past, today’s Stranger-Now-Friend, Mark, points us toward a life-altering power.
Leaning into a new form of F-bomb, Former California Councilmember Allen Warren, points all of us toward the big resolve
After a short marriage and facing the pain of a young divorce, today’s stranger-now-friend, Bisi, opens our hearts toward a brighter future.
A self-proclaimed “fish out of water,” Actor Jon Heder, reveals his spiritual outlook in a way that inspires us all to look beyond the expected norms.
In a world where we are rapidly becoming digitally separated, today’s Stranger-now-Friend, the young and wise Saif, proves the rising generation just might be the ones who can get us back to loving one another.
Cutter is his name, and as he speaks of a world full of comparisons, he inspires us to question the meaning of success.
Musician, writer, and director Mauli Bonner points us toward a better future, and a view of an enslaved history we should never forget.
In a style only she can carry, today’s Stranger-Now-Friend, Educator Afua Daines, points us toward a castle she calls “Beyond Measure.”
Actor Patrick Roper thinks not of his battle with life-threatening Cancer but instead points his wisdom to a place where we can all thrive.
Unleashed past the expectations of the world, musical artist Radhika Vekaria invites us all to a symphony of our own making…
Overcoming the lows of life and thoughts of suicide, he turns our hearts toward the blessing that we all have in store…
He sold me my new…used car, but more than that, he revealed the past he lived and to whom he gives credit…
A global traveler and producer shows us a pathway to better seeing the worth of our diverse selves….
A spokesperson for the gifts we each have to offer, she defines a word that can resolve the pains we bear…
She viewed her death, and as she spiritually screamed a question in anger, she found a path that can guide us all…
Raised on darker streets, they have turned their lives toward bettering the lives of our future leaders…
Transcending the abuse of childhood, and touched by the spark of one individual, she is healing the hearts of many.
As she fights against the darkness of human trafficking, she reveals a superpower within the reach of us all. Lucy My mom grew up in an orphanage. She was born in Nineteen thirty-five, and I think she went into the orphanage probably around Nineteen thirty-eight or thirty-nine. But it wasn’t until I was an adult ... Read more
On her own, she faced her obstacles. On her own, she found a new life, and on her own, her love for a new country blossomed.
A British father, filmmaker and podcaster lowers his wall to talk of what we can become and the pasts we are carrying.
They both had painful pasts, but these blood sisters have found the secret to embracing the world around us.
Raised on the streets of a 1970’s Harlem, he guides past the troubles and temptation that block us.
A recognized doctor and author, speaks of a medicine within the reach of our own hands.
Danny Glover and Cedric The Entertainer open their hearts as they speak of what’s most important.
I’ll just call her Aunty, and there we were, two people from drastically different backgrounds, sitting together in her living room. Around us walls filled with a mix of photographs, recognitions, tribal masks and musical instruments that symbolically told of African roots and her 81 years of life as a black American…
The echoes of snores and other embarrassing body sounds bounced off the granite walls, as all around me hundreds of families huddled into makeshift homesteads. The clock struck 12:03 am, and with the second announcement of what seemed a boarding school inspired lights out, I wiggled to find any comfortable sleeping position. A sadly impossible ... Read more
Rikki was her name,and in reviewing her narration, it seemed she tapped into a most personal and intimidating question: WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE?
And until that night, he was a stranger to me. An unknown shadow under a flickering streetlamp just outside a neighborhood haunt called Casey’s Tavern…
Her voice heavy with French accent she told me of a father who was very negative, and a dad who worried about everything.
Her name was Stephanie, and, in releasing the words that originally polarized me from her, I found the heart of a Doll…
Extroverted and strongly opinionated he was. The kind of guy many would call intimidating, aggressive, or for some, maybe even annoying. But as he dropped his salesman pitch, he exposed a softer underbelly.
Then, like a purifying lightning bolt, it hit me. Rachel’s most romantic comment called me out as I thought about what’s ultimately ahead for us all…
He paused, and as many a good Rabbi does, I could almost hear the still air as the room grew silent.
In his almost nude, most likely waxed, and very public form; he twisted his barbershop quartet mustache as a not so assuming tourist posed by his side.
“It was as if an Angel had reached past the darkness of temporary scarecrows and brought forward ghosts in the closet.